The Boy With the Haunted Eyes
by CookieBVB
Summary: Naruto, as a little boy, was shunned. When he was four, however, the villagers finally got fed up with his big blue eyes, so they put a blindfold on him. It is now 8 years later, and he has not once taken off the blindfold. How will Sasuke react, even though he's seen the blindfold being put on? And why can't he remember Naruto from that night?
1. Part One

"Put a blindfold on the demon! Those eyes can freeze you where you stand, like Medusa!"  
A little boy whimpered as the horde of adults threw rocks at him. One adult approached him with a dirty old rag.  
"Come on, Marson! We don't have all day! He can kill us any minute now!" Someone in the crowd yelled.  
"All right!" The man gulped, and looked at the boy. He had bright, spiky blonde hair, and big, teary blue eyes. There were 3 whisker marks on each cheek, a sign of the Kyuubi locked within him.  
The little boy looked at all of the adult's cold brown or black eyes. They were full of hatred... toward him. His eyes fell to the ground.  
"Don't!" The boy's eyes flew to see another boy around his age standing at the edge of the ground, panting. He had deep raven coloured hair...  
And the Sharingan.  
"What did he ever do?" The other boy yelled. "It's not his fault!"  
"You're right- It's the Kyuubi's fault, as well as the Fourth's."  
"The Fourth was a hero for defeating the Kyuubi!" The other boy argued. The blonde boy's eyes widened at the mention of the Fourth, and then, tears started finally falling.  
"It's alright, Sasuke." The blonde boy smiled, getting the raven's attention. "I'm different, and people cannot accept that. I will take this as punishment for my actions as the Kyuubi." In those simple sentences, the little blonde sounded much older and wiser than his 4 years of age.  
The last thing the little boy saw before the world went dark...  
Was little Sasuke's eyes widening in horror.

The next few months were awful for the little blonde boy. He was not still used to the blindfold, and since he was the Kyuubi vessel, no one offered to help him. He bumped into everything, got lost, and somehow accidentally stole a dog, despite the fact that the dog followed him!  
He heard rumours on the street that little Sasuke Uchiha was sent to the local hot spring to be burned, and then was to have his memory wiped!  
The next time he heard Sasuke was when they bumped into each other at the Academy's entrance, on their first day. The little blonde boy had gotten used to the blindfold by now, and had no idea how he missed Sasuke's footsteps. He smiled brightly at Sasuke.  
"Hi Sasuke." He cheered, covering up his depression. He already knew that the other boy didn't remember him, but he remembered Sasuke, so why not say hello?  
"Who are you? I don't remember seeing a little dobe around here." Sasuke said coldly. The little blonde boy was silently glad he had the rag over his eyes- the other boy could not see his silent tears.  
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki- I don't expect you to remember me." The little blonde, now known as Naruto, said sadly.  
Sasuke put a fist in his hand. "You're the Kyuubi, right?"  
Naruto shook his little head. "No. I am just the container." Naruto stood silently, and treaded to the door, feeling Sasuke's eyes on him the whole way.

They didn't speak to each other until a few years later, when they were both assigned to Team 7, or Team Kakashi with Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake.  
"Isn't he so weird?" Sakura whispered to Sasuke as they walked to the Land of the Waves, with Naruto, Kakashi, and Tazuna.  
"Yeah. How can he be so cheery when...?"  
"Shhh! We aren't allowed to talk about that!" Sakura giggled, and moved away. Naruto however, with his advanced hearing, heard them, stopped, and 'looked' sadly in their direction. Sasuke saw Tazuna ask Kakashi about the rag, but Kakashi didn't answer. Instead, he poofed over to Sakura and Sasuke.  
"Is there something you want to share, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked her, his visible eye turning into a 'u'.  
"Yeah. I was just commenting to Sasuke how weird Naruto is. I mean, who wears a blindfold 24/7 and still acts so cheery? He claims it's part of his training, but I think it's because of the-"  
"That's enough, Sakura." Kakashi and Sasuke said at the same time.  
They looked over at Naruto, whose face was to the ground.  
But he was smiling.  
Kakashi smiled a sad little smile (or at least, I think he did. No one ever knows with that mask of his), and went back up front to walk with Naruto. Sakura 'humph'ed, and also walked up to the front, pointedly avoiding Naruto. Naruto smiled sadly, but stopped. He looked back at Sasuke, and waited.  
"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke asked coldly.  
"Someone to like me, but that is only a wish." Naruto sighed, looking at the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened, and then narrowed.  
"You aren't the only one who has lost important people. You aren't the only person with a hard life, usuratonkachi." Sasuke said bitterly.  
"I know," Naruto replied softly, startling Sasuke. "It is only a wish. That is the reason, because I know that it will never happen." Naruto then turned to the front, and kept walking.  
Sasuke walked behind the group, lost in his thoughts. He felt like he should know Naruto beside from school, yet... He had no idea where from.  
So why did the mention of Naruto and that rag bring such pain to his heart?

**Hey guys! So I thought this little baby up in the shower... So... It's kind of weird, and there'll be some events that are changed, but... yeah! Hope you guys like it!**


	2. Part Two

Well hey! I see you've come back for more!

Okay, this story may look weird, but I'm not sure. I uploaded on my phone because my computer was being an asshole. And now my phone is too. well, only have two things to say... One~ I will be continuing this, because may actually be able to not suck at it *victory!* and Two~ dracoranger- I will put more of Naruto's personality into this. just needed to get the story going, you know? Promise :3Part Two:

Naruto laughed at a joke Kakashi said. "That's amazing! Who knew that pandas could do that!"

Sasuke made a face of disgust. How could the dobe be so happy? He has the worst history in the world, and he didn't even deserve it. There is no reason he should be smiling and laughing so flamboyantly.

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto greeted, seeing Jiraiya in the bushes, peeping on girls playing in the waterfall (as usual). Sasuke "che"d at Jiraiya's stubborn refusal at his obvious actions.

"Alright Naruto. Are you ready?" Jiraiya asked the blonde. He nodded excitedly.

"Let's go!" Suddenly, Jiraiya and Naruto were gone. Sasuke made to turn around, but Kakashi held him forward.

"You need to see this, Sasuke." Kakashi said, making him stay and watch. Sasuke sighed, but stayed. "Why was he needed here? Didn't Kakashi have anything planned? Sure, he had never really seen Naruto fight, but why were they here? Were they invading on a spar between Jiraiya and Naruto?

"Kakashi, why-"

"Just watch, Sasuke." Kakashi cut him off, taking out Come Come Paradise. Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy, but a sudden yelling made him look the other way.

Right at Naruto and Jiraiya, who were sparring.

~A few hours later (because I cannot, for the life of me, write fight scenes well)~

Naruto ran ahead of the others toward Ichiraku Ramen. The group was not worried or very surprised when he swiftly avoided a group of adults who were not paying attention to where they were going. However, one of them did spot Naruto as he tried to sneak past.

"It's the Kyuubi demon! Thank goodness it's eyes are covered - I don't want to leave my family because of some hungry demon who killed my parents 14 years ago!" The man said loudly, catching the attention of everyone on the street. Naruto stopped, 'looked' in their direction, and then kept going, looking completely indifferent. However, all of his companions could see his slightly hunched shoulders and tightly clenched fists, which still hung stuck his sides.

Kakashi sighed, and went to where Naruto was standing. He leaned over to whisper in the latter's ear.

"Just ignore them Naruto. Remember, we were all going to get ramen?" Kakashi reminded the boy. He was shocked at the teen's next words.

"Yes, but no one can stand words that are harshly inflicted upon them. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to ignore those harsh words completely. I may have dealt with them all of my life, but they are still not the worst. I will forever be the murderer of the Fourth Hokage, but-"

SLAP.

Time seemed to stand still. All of the citizens on the street looked at the scene before them - Sasuke, with his hand still raised. Naruto, with a red mark on his cheek and a shocked look on his face, and Kakashi, with one wide eye.

Suddenly, there was cheering. "Yeah Sasuke! You teach him!" Was heard. It was all taunts, teases, and hail-like words thrown onto the three. But they were mixed in their own feelings- Naruto, in shock. Sasuke, in anger. Kakashi, in amazement.

"Don't let me ever hear you say anything like that again, Naruto. I may be a teme, and you a dobe, but you are not a murderer. Not the happy-go-lucky kid I know." Sasuke spat at the boy, who was holding a hand to his face. Then, Sasuke turned and ran, lost in his own memories.

Naruto and Kakashi stood for another moment, before Kakashi grabbed the boy and flashed out of there. He took Naruto and himself back to Naruto's apartment, where he put down the boy on the sofa.

"Naruto, I know I promised Ichiraku's, but we cannot go there quite yet. How about I make some cup ramen, and then you go to sleep, hm?" Kakashi's eye turned into a 'u'. Naruto nodded numbly, and Kakashi got set on making the boy his cup ramen, worried. Just why had Sasuke reacted so strongly?

Sasuke, somewhere else, sneezed. Someone must have been thinking or talking about him. Suddenly, he came across a small clearing, just outside of the village. Unknown to him, it was the area where Naruto had been shunned all of those years ago.

Sasuke was assaulted with an abrupt barrage of memories.

"Put a blindfold on the demon! Those eyes can freeze you where you stand, like Medusa!"

A little boy whimpered as the horde of adults threw rocks at him. One adult approached him with a dirty old rag.

"Come on, Marson! We don't have all day! He can kill us any minute now!" Someone in the crowd yelled.

"All right!" The man gulped, and looked at the boy. He had bright, spiky blonde hair, and big, teary blue eyes. There were 3 whisker marks on each cheek, a sign of the Kyuubi locked within him.

The little boy looked at all of the adult's cold brown or black eyes. They were full of hatred... toward him. His eyes fell to the ground.

"Don't!" The boy's eyes flew to see another boy around his age standing at the edge of the ground, panting. He had deep raven coloured hair...

And the Sharingan.

"What did he ever do?" The other boy yelled. "It's not his fault!"

"You're right- It's the Kyuubi's fault, as well as the Fourth's."

"The Fourth was a hero for defeating the Kyuubi!" The other boy argued. The blonde boy's eyes widened at the mention of the Fourth, and then, tears started finally falling.

"It's alright, Sasuke." The blonde boy smiled, getting the raven's attention. "I'm different, and people cannot accept that. I will take this as punishment for my actions as the Kyuubi." In those simple sentences, the little blonde sounded much older and wiser than his 4 years of age.

Sasuke clutched his head, wondering who the little boy in the memories was. As if in answer, a picture of Naruto came to mind, laughing loudly, but with the same raggedy old cloth over his eyes. Sasuke's head shot up, and he turned.

All of a sudden, he was gone, only leaving a whisper of, "Naruto..." on the wind.


End file.
